How to import DVD into iMovie project (Snow Leopard compatible)

Grude Nov 17, 2009

If you are fond of some video clip from a DVD movie and want to edit it in your iMovie project, you got the right place. The following article will share with you how to put both commercial and non-commercial DVD into Apple iMovie project.

Video formats accepted by iMovie include MPEG-2 and AVCHD, DV-Standard and HDV (High Definition Video), QuickTime Movie, MEPG-4. If you want to import commercial DVD to iMovie, you need to convert DVD to the video format iMovie supports first. I would recommend using DVD Ripper for Mac to DVD to MP4 or QuickTime Movie. It supports converting encrypted DVD's. Just follow these steps to convert and import DVD to iMovie:

Step 1. Install and Run DVD Ripper for Mac. (free download)

Step 2. Load DVD movies

Insert your DVD movie into your DVD drive. Click the "Load DVD" or "Load IFO" button to load your DVD.

put DVD into iMovie

Step 3. Convert DVD to iMovie on Mac OS X

After you add your DVD movie, you can choose any titles or chapters you want to convert by ticking the check boxes before them so that you can choose to convert DVD with the entire movie or just one or several chapters at will; or you can choose to convert a segment of the DVD movie .

Then select the the iMovie friendly file such as MP4 as the output format. After setting the output settings, you can just click the Convert button to start converting your Movies.

Step 4. Import the output MP4 files into iMovie.

Open iMovie and choose File -> Import Movies to import the converted Mp4 video. And then you can edit the movie according to your needs.

put DVD into iMovie

If you are going to import non-commercial DVD into iMovie, you just:

1. Insert DVD.
2. Open Disk Utility.
3. Select the disk and then select "New Image". Save the disk image wherever is convenient, such as the desktop.
4. Once the disk image is written, open iMovie.
5. Mount the new disk image. A "Camera Detected, Scanning Contents" window will appear in iMovie, followed by an import window. You can now import the DVD contents and start editing away.